Nicaragua - 2026

 

Photos: https://linkit.shutterfly.com/vvjYGP

            Nicaragua is my 64^th country to visit out of a possible 195 in our world. Similar in size to Wisconsin with a population of 7M, this country has no formal street names or house numbers for daily navigation or postal service. Instead, a unique, relative system based on fixed landmarks (churches, trees, old businesses) is used, with directions given in blocks and cardinal directions from that reference point. Imagine a letter addressed “3 blocks to the lake, ½ mile from house of Juan Ortega, one street from Santa Teresa Church”.

            The 14 of us depart El Salvador via a small motorboat, crossing a gulf (Fonseca) off the Pacific Ocean. Enroute, we walk the boat’s gangplank to visit a small island to enjoy a drink, the view and to walk the beach. A local man is using a suction pipe to collect crustaceans hidden in the sand. I meet a young man from Somalia whose family were refuges to Sweden. There he attended a 3-year vocational school to become a railroad engineer. He is taking three months off to explore Central America before starting a new job in March.

The next segment of our 2-hour journey across the Gulf becomes quite wild with the motorboat rocking and dropping between the 4’ swells. Arriving on a deserted beach, dropping the gangplank to exit is challenging due to the waves battering the boat. Wild horses are on the beach in this desolate part of Nicaragua. Yet, Customs has an office here next to a dilapidated wharf and is waiting for us. The Bano (restrooms) are large rocks and trees buffering the beach. I had read that binoculars are not allowed to be brought into Nicaragua. The custom agent goes through my luggage like an angry bull until he is satisfied. I was happy our Nicaraguan van has an automatic transmission, and the roads were mainly smooth with rarely any speed bumps. No heavy traffic was experienced, which I believe stems from a population unable to afford cars. In the previous four Central American countries we visited, our 20-passenger van had a manual transmission. The roads were rough, often cobbled and with prolific speed bumps. In other words, my stomach was like a bouncy house for 3 – 12 hours per day.  

            We spent the night in Leon, a colonial city, and century old rival to their colonial city of Granada. Our hotel is very basic and appears to be the only building in our vicinity with a fresh coat of paint. In the dark, I walk four blocks to city center to find a restaurant. It’s the night of our super bowl and I spot a bar with a TV playing the game with only a handful of viewers. The next morning, adding chaos to our walking tour, there is a large fire downtown. Our history lesson once again details the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500’s leading to the slave-like control of the indigenous people. We also learn about the torture that was inflicted during their civil war between the warring parties of Contras and Sandinistas in the 1980’s. At the city market are many men holding large wads of local cash, acting as money changers between Nicaraguan Cordovas and US dollars. Banks, ATM’s and the use of credit cards is limited.

            The next day is a 3-hour drive to board a ferry for a one-hour ride (van included) to the Island of Ometepe which sits in the Lake of Nicaragua (Cocibolca), the largest lake in Central America. The island is home to two of their 52 volcanoes, of which 11 are active. Our overnight stay is at the least likeable hotel of the trip. Both days we drive the perimeter roads of the jungle-like island, exploring beaches, stopping for a swim in a pool of a jungle reserve, exploring a butterfly breeding facility and hiking among the howler monkeys and unusual foliage including the sacred Cieba (or Kapok) trees which have evolved to have sharp pointed barbs on its trunk as protection from animals.

            Our trip ends with two nights in Granada, the largest colonial city. Our hotel is a large colonial building with an indoor pool and showers with hot water. It feels safe to roam the touristy old town among churches, restaurants, never-ending shops and bars with ear-deafening music. My body rebels at the 85-degree humid temps, starting with breakfast. My nose directs me to a leather shop where I met an interesting man from Denmark that settled here 20 years ago to open his leather business. His goldmine find was an undiscovered source of cheap leather, still untapped 20 years ago. He takes the slaughtered cow hides and converts them to useable leather products using the same process I witnessed a few years ago in Morocco. I am now the owner of two new leather belts. My next adventure was to support a blind non-profit entity. A blind man was taught to do therapeutic body massage. I bought a one-hour deep tissue oil massage done in a dark room with a fan, no AC, directed at me. While he would not be my go-to masseuse in the USA, it was enjoyable and certainly worth the $25 paid.

While not officially one of the five remaining communist countries in our World, (China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam), Nicaragua is similar. It is ruled by an “elected” dictator, President Daniel Ortega, FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front) party. The difference in quality of life was noticeable. Shops and gas stations keep their lights turned off during the day to save on the cost of electricity. Hotel linens seemed more threadbare. Nicaragua has the second-lowest per capita income in the Western Hemisphere, the first being Haiti. Nicaragua produces coffee, cotton, bananas, sugar cane, rum and beef cattle. The US is the main export partner, accounting for over 50% of the total. The USA imports ~60% of their frozen beef, primarily ground beef.

For friends in my age group, you likely remember the name Daniel Ortega, associated with the Iran-Contra affair during the Reagan administration. For younger readers, our CIA during the 1980’s covertly armed, trained, and funded the Contras, a right-wing rebel group fighting to oust the leftist Sandinista government which was funded by the Soviet Union. Our Congress had banned direct military aid to Nicaragua. Thus, to financially aid the Nicaraguan Contras, the US secretly sold military weapons to Iran and used that cash to fund the Contras. Several Reagan administration officials were convicted (including Oliver North and John Poindexter) and later pardoned by President George H.W. Bush. Ortega was ousted from power in 1990 but then returned to power in 2007 and has remained in power ever since via a change to their constitution to allow unlimited terms.  As of late 2025, Russia is still funding upgrades to Nicaragua's military infrastructure, surveillance technology and police training to suppress dissent.

            Another tidbit for Asheville folks, Cornelius Vanderbilt owned the rights for building a canal thru Lake Nicaragua. Before the Panama Canal was built, Vanderbilt proposed a canal across Nicaragua, which was closer to the United States and which mostly spanned Lake Nicaragua and the San Juan River. In the end, he could not attract enough investment to build the canal, but he did start a steamship line to Nicaragua. This was during the era of the 1849 California gold rush, to get the gold to our east coast.

 Our State Department advises: “Nicaragua is currently considered unsafe by the U.S. government, which advises Americans to "Reconsider Travel" (Level 3), citing arbitrary law enforcement, risk of wrongful detention, limited healthcare, and crime, though many tourists still visit popular spots like Granada and León without incident, requiring heightened caution and awareness of political risks, especially for solo or female travelers”. And yet, Americans are moving to Nicaragua, primarily for a significantly lower cost of living, cheap real estate, favorable tax laws (no tax on foreign income), a slower pace of life, and abundant natural beauty.